


The Dad/Daddy Dichotomy

by rorywritesstuff



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rorywritesstuff/pseuds/rorywritesstuff
Summary: Who gets called what.





	The Dad/Daddy Dichotomy

One month before Sam was due to be born Billy blurted out, “I want to be ‘daddy’.”  
Teddy cocked his eyebrow and asked, “Like, in a sexy way?”  
“No. I want- when we’re talking to Sam, I want you to be ‘dad’ and for me to be ‘daddy’.”  
They had, of course, discussed it already; they’d agreed that they didn’t want to confuse their son, of course, so different names were called for. Although it was a touch clichéd, the dad/daddy dichotomy had seemed the natural fit and maybe when Sam was older, they could gradually introduce their real names. Billy didn’t really remember the discussion going much further, and it seemed to have been tacitly—though never explicitly—agreed that Teddy would be ‘daddy’, leaving Billy with ‘dad’. He had been fine with this at first; it was the more adult-sounding of the two options, and he was the one who would be out at work, after all. But the closer Sam’s due date came, the more nervous Billy grew about exactly this aspect. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be the adult one.   
“I would prefer if we called me ‘daddy’ and you ‘dad’,” Billy reiterated, reassuring himself that this wasn’t a trivial matter.  
“Okay.” Teddy didn’t sound convinced.   
“Look, it’s just- you’ll be with him all day. You’ll get to do all the fun stuff: taking him to the park and parties, teaching him games, reading him stories-”  
“Cleaning him up when he vomits. It’s not all going to be fun.”  
“I know, but you’re going to see so much more of him, and I think…he’s probably going to like you more.” It had been difficult for Billy to admit this; Teddy didn’t deny it. “So I want one area where I’m the fun one. And- I mean, it’s stupid, but ‘daddy’ is a more fun word than ‘dad’.”  
Teddy considered this for a second, “Okay.”   
“Okay as in you accept that hypothesis or okay as in you’ll let me be ‘daddy’?”  
“Both.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t matter to me.”   
“Thank you.” Billy looked down at the table, he couldn’t help but feel he was being a bit silly. He felt Teddy’s hand on his back, gently soothing him.  
“If you’re worried he won’t like you, we can make a list of things only you and he will do.”   
Billy looked up, “Like what?”   
Teddy thought for a little while, “Well, how about you take him to see Santa?”  
“I’m Jewish.”  
“Alright then, you can teach him ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’. And ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’. I get the alphabet, though.”   
Billy smiled, “Deal.”  
“Good, I’m glad we could sort that.” He put his hand on Billy’s head and started twisting his hair, just a little, “Is that everything you want, Daddy?”


End file.
